da bet7： Will Luke provides the Plays of the Day from the second ODI between England and New Zealand at Edgbaston
Will Luke at Edgbaston18-Jun-2008
Luke Wright slog-swept with the sort of power that would make Steve Waugh green with envy © Getty Images
Daft decision of the day
Play didn’t begin until 3pm, reducing the match to 24 overs. Withheavy rain forecast at 6pm, it would seem only sensible to reduce theinterval between innings as much as possible, in order to give thehardy Edgbaston crowd the chance of seeing a full match. Instead, theytook 30 minutes while the rain petered down, and the race against theweather continued.Shots of the day
It was only a reduced game, but Luke Wright took full advantage toprove his worth which, in six ODIs prior today, had yielded only onefifty. He looked out of sorts at Chester-le-Street, yet today appearedto resemble the fearless striker members of Hove have enjoyed for thepast two seasons. His target? Michael Mason. The first rocketed overcover, going inside out, which was followed by the cleanest of sixesover the top. He saved the best for last, however, with a slog-sweepover midwicket so emphatic as to make Steve Waugh, the shot’s pioneer, greenwith envy. Now, England just need Ian Bell and Wright to fire in thesame innings and they might have found a useful, potentiallydestructive, opening partnership.Unwise marketing of the day
Britons are renowned boozers, and never more so than at the cricket.And while international grounds have, for the most part, banned peoplefrom bringing in their own, one Australian wine company exploitedBritain’s thirst with unlimited quantities available to all, albeit ina tea-cup sized plastic container. With each rain break, the crowdscame eargerly flocking for a top-up, but such was their increasingstupor that they remained beside the bar, ready for another. A trafficisland of sozzled fans, none of whom were capable of remembering whatthey had enjoyed, blocked the entrance to the hospitality suites,prompting a naïve policeman to call for order. He failed.Belly-flop of the day
Dimitri Mascarenhas is many things, but any aspirations he had ofemulating Paul Collingwood’s salmon-leaping catches came tumbling downto earth today. With a bump. Stationed expectantly at short fine-leg,Brendon McCullum flicked one aerially just to his left. He sprangforward, almost getting both feet off the ground, before collapsingflat on his stomach rather indignantly. It was a moment to make allaspiring league cricketers proud.